Dish "Dongle" for Outside Antenna Stopped working ....

[mikieii]

After just installing two new OTA antennas to get "blacked out" network channels and several local stations my Hopper 3 now refuses to "See" my OAT. I have rebooted, refreshed, tried all the inputs to the Hopper 3, called Dish--DAH what is a dongle ???? All was working well, tv screen froze, refreshed Hopper 3, all my previously shown OTA channels in my Dish Channel Listing were gone, now when I attempt to search OAT Channels I get the "If you have an OAT Adapter plug it in now" message as if there is not an adapter even plugged in. Dish Satellite Channels work OK, Channel Lineup shows them normally---------

As before greatly appreciate any suggestions .........

Mike

 

[Stormy_2021]

Dang...

Perhaps your dongle is dangling...

I know when my dastardly dongle dangerously dangles, it's decidedly disastrous...




Dingos...

 

[DWS44]

Maybe try unplugging the OTA adapter, then after a couple minutes, pull the power plug on the Hopper, let it sit for a couple minutes w/o power. Then, plug the power back in for the Hopper and let it boot all the way up, then plug the OTA adapter back in and see if its recognized. Just a thought to see if that might clear it out. Good Luck!

For your sake, I hope the OTA adapter didn't go bad for some reason...they are scarce now that Dish has run out of them.

 

[boba]

Maybe you can feed those OATS to a horse.

 

[navychop]

Laying it horizontally may help. Check all connections- again.

 

[KAB]

Ditto Navy. I suspect a bad connector. The Dongles are not know for failure with secure connections.

 

[Hall]

For your sake, I hope the OTA adapter didn't go bad for some reason...they are scarce now that Dish has run out of them.

When I read the title, that was what I was already thinking. I'm not sure that "scarce" is accurate though. They are 100% unavailable from normal sources, i.e. Dish, Dish equipment retailers, etc. Sellers on eBay, Amazon, etc that are, last I read, selling them for 4x their normal price are the exception.

 

[Yragha]

They are very fickle and the Dongle hates Wally.

 

[navychop]

SO- the new OTA dongle is going to be ATSC 3 compatible?

 

[mikieii]

Ditto Navy. I suspect a bad connector. The Dongles are not know for failure with secure connections.

Tried new ES194858 cable ( unit to Hopper 3) no luck, have disconnected, powered, rebooted, refreshed, tried all 3 connections on Hopper 3, various combinations of anything I could think of--physical inspection in and outside of adapter(ES194858) show no problems. Outside antenna is providing great signal to adapter, verified with TV only--suggestions please !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mikieii]

Laying it horizontally may help. Check all connections- again.

Thanks, tried horizontal, vertical, supported etc, no results. Seems that the Hopper # 3.0 and the one 2.0 input are dead, program jumbled or sadly ES194858 Adapter is DEAD, any suggestions appreciated............................. Mike

 

[mikieii]

Dang...

Perhaps your dongle is dangling...

I know when my dastardly dongle dangerously dangles, it's decidedly disastrous...




Dingos...

SAY WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT................................................

 

[KAB]

Well, I'm stumped! Does sound like it went bad, though I'm very surprised. OTOH, it's not outside the realm of possibility that there is a problem with the hopper. Do you have other USB devices connected and working properly?

 

[mikieii]

Well, I'm stumped! Does sound like it went bad, though I'm very surprised. OTA, it's not outside the realm of possibility that there is a problem with the hopper. Do you have other USB devices connected and working properly?

No, the OAT is the only one, what could I try to verify Hopper operation? Also very strange that ALL of my OAT channels that were on my channels list generated by the Hopper disappeared at the same time Hopper no longer recognized the ES194858..................

 

[navychop]

I meant be sure the connectors on the coax are firmly attached and not shorted.

Do you know someone with Dish that could test the dongles for you?

 

[mikieii]

Maybe you can feed those OATS to a horse.

Only if they "eat" RF, there again 1000 micro-volts (ua) or so won't hurt them...................

 

[mikieii]

I meant be sure the connectors on the coax are firmly attached and not shorted.

Do you know someone with Dish that could test the dongles for you?

No, in my area Direct TV is "master", Dish has better technology BUT I am concerned about their (DISH'S) Engineering capability and customer service....................

 

[DWS44]

Dish has better technology BUT I am concerned about their (DISH'S) Engineering capability and customer service.

You might try contacting one of the DIRT members on the board here...they are about the best and most knowledgeable Dish Customer Service folks you can find.

As for testing the USB ports themselves on the Hopper, by chance, do you have a powered external hard drive that you could try plugging into the Hopper to see if that could be recognized? You wouldnt need to go through the whole process of formatting it, but you could at least see if it was recognized at all.

 

[mikieii]

Tried antenna with a portable TV not through the Dish System, excellent signal to this TV therefore (maybe!!) no antenna pre amp or coax problem..................................Adaptor could be bad, or more likely Hopper 3, Dish will not send another Hopper 3 for me to verify..

 

[Hall]

How old is the OTA dongle ? I'm curious how Dish would handle a "warranty" on it given the current status of it.

I think you can even plug in a USB flash drive to test the ports. It will recognize it but won't do anything (as I recall).